SOCCER: SUPERLIGA: MEXICO PLAYERS EYE MLS.

Byline: IVAN OROZCO

Staff Writer

CARSON -- When Major League Soccer kicked off 11 years ago, league officials scrambled for ways to attract Mexican soccer fans in the United States to the new league. Teams spent millions of dollars on signing flashy but seasoned Mexican players.

Goalkeeper Jorge Campos spent the league's first three seasons with the Galaxy. Luis Hernandez came to the Galaxy for two stints in the early 2000s and Carlos Hermosillo in the late 1990s.

But perhaps MLS recently has become more appealing to players in the Mexican first division after this season's additions of English superstar David Beckham to the Galaxy and Mexican striker Cuauhtemoc Blanco to the Chicago Fire.

Members of some of the Mexican clubs and officials of teams competing in the SuperLiga tournament making a couple of stops in Los Angeles, weighed in with their thoughts about MLS and the possibilities of coming to play soccer in the United States.

"Yes, I would like to play in the MLS. It grabs my attention," said Pachuca forward Rafael Marquez Lugo following a 1-0 SuperLiga loss to the Galaxy earlier this week. "I think soccer in the United States has grown tremendously under the eyes of the world."

Marquez Lugo, who has played on the Mexican national team and won several tournaments with Pachuca, said MLS could be one of the best leagues in the Americas 10 years from now as it continues to grow.

"I still think MLS is not yet to the level of the Mexican league because of the quality of the players in Mexico but I think in the short time of existence, (MLS) has been managed well to prepare for growth."

Marquez Lugo's teammate Marvin Cabrera said MLS is an improved league but nothing could pull him away from playing in his home country.

Francisco "Kikin" Fonseca, who played for Tigres UANL in last week's World Series of Football, said he would play in MLS as long as "there's certain conditions met that you look for as a player."

Perhaps the best attempt to pull Mexican fans into MLS stadiums came when Jorge Vergara, a Mexican businessman and owner of Chivas de Guadalajara -- one of the most beloved and popular teams in Mexico -- partnered with Antonio Cu(hrt) to bring the Chivas brand to Los Angeles by forming Chivas USA in 2005.

Guadalajara is expected to help draw close to a sellout crowd at the Coliseum tonight when it takes on the Galaxy in both teams' second SuperLiga match.

"MLS is about to explode," said Vergara in Spanish during a phone interview. "The league's owners have done a good job in the last three years dressing it up with big-time players. That's just one of many signs that soccer in the United States will be looked at with different eyes."

Mexican players said MLS signings other than Beckham and Blanco this season have helped the league become more sexy.Young or veteran players could begin or continue to keep an eye on the MLS's development.

"In the future, Mexican players could come here in their prime," said Chivas Guadalajara veteran midfielder Ramon Morales. "I would like to play here, as long as I remain a Chiva."

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